


Strings

by Illiteracy_is_for_woozles



Series: The Future Is History [20]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Asmund is Adorable, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Awkward Crush, Byleistr is Oblivious, Crush at First Sight, Cute Ending, Cutesy, Embarrassment, F/M, Falling In Love, First Crush, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, Goofy Loki, Idiots in Love, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Jötunheimr | Jotunheim, Jötunn Sigyn, Loki deserves happiness, Love at First Sight, Meet the Family, Meet-Cute, POV Loki (Marvel), Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Canon, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Post-War, Soulmates, The Author Regrets Nothing, give him a break, happy loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 05:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18067268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illiteracy_is_for_woozles/pseuds/Illiteracy_is_for_woozles
Summary: Byleistr introduces Loki to an old friend. Loki isn't sure what to do with himself.





	Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, @couchpotaito, for a) explaining what a crush feels like to this poor, oblivious ace/aro author (apparently it's basically a targeted, temporary social anxiety that only affects you around one person???) and b) helping me come up with a nickname for Byleistr. He's adorable and it fits perfectly.
> 
> I'd just like to let everyone know that I am still taking suggestions and requests for epilogues. They'll all be short and mostly one-shots (except for Bucky and Nat's and Yasha and Lenore's, because those have some really important storylines that I'm very excited about) and I have no idea when any of these will be out or what half of them will be about.  
> For some reason, I couldn't decide between these two different ideas for Cap and Peggy, so I'll be writing two stories for them. One is serious (it's almost finished) and the other is going to be kinda crack-ish with a little social commentary thrown in. (Spoiler: Sarah is going to be turning 18 soon and wants something that I have four of)  
> You can either send me ideas in the comments here or on my tumblr.

After Thanos, most of the Avengers had wandered off to make their own lives.

A few had decided to stay at the Compound for the time being, while others had begun searching for apartments in the city, but they all had one thing in mind: Retirement. No more Avengers.

Well, that wasn’t  _ entirely _ true. Some had decided to stay on as watchmen, as lookouts, ready and waiting for any large-scale attacks on the Earth, but they were still taking it easy outside of regular training sessions.

Thor and Loki had gone back to Jotunheim, of course. They all needed the security of home, especially Uma, and Thor had work to be done.

The elder brother took on his responsibilities as king quickly, adapting to his new role like he’d been doing it his whole life. Frigga stood by his side offering guidance when he needed it, but that was rare.

It made Loki proud. His reasoning for showing the Jotnar the path into Asgard all those years ago was because no one would listen to him when he said that he didn’t think that his brother was  _ ready  _ to be king, and he had been right. Now, though…

It made Loki smile to see the difference.

With Thor caring for the Aesir, Helblindi taking on the role as heir to the Jotunn throne, and Byleistr making sure that both peoples were getting along well, Loki didn’t  _ have  _ to do anything.

For the first time in his life, no one was expecting him to fit into someone  _ else’s _ plans for him or idea of how he was supposed to behave and it felt  _ amazing _ .   
He was able to spend all day in the library or running through the snow with Asmund or apologizing to the townspeople for whatever today’s trick of Uma’s was without anyone telling him that it “wasn’t an acceptable way for a prince to spend his time.”

Today had a little bit of a plan to it, however. He wasn’t required, but Byleistr had asked him to come meet the völva that was coming to visit.

He had been so excited to finally introduce Loki to the only person with seiðr within a thousand miles (at  _ least _ ) and Loki shared in his excitement. Meeting someone else wasn’t anything new to him, but the look of pure, unbridled joy on Byleistr’s face was infectious.

“You will love her, little brother,” he insisted as they walked the halls. “She’s very clever.”

Loki smiled, shuffling his notebook to the other hand.

“I’m sure I will.”

Byleistr continued to gush about his friend, telling stories and making Loki chuckle.

The two men exited the palace into the bright, sunny day to find Uma chattering away with a woman on the front steps.

The teenager had been speaking quietly but stopped immediately when she saw Loki, a giant grin splitting her face.

“Hey, daddy.”

Loki narrowed his eyes. That tone of voice was… odd. It seemed like she was expecting a trick to be played but… not? Like she knew something that he didn’t and was waiting for him to embarrass himself.

“Hello, dear.”

Byleistr, completely oblivious in his excitement to see his friend, ran up and pulled the woman into a spine-popping hug.

“It's good to see you, too, Shine,” she laughed.

When Byleistr set her back on her own two feet, Loki was able to get a good look at her. She was quite beautiful, a few inches taller than he was, with long hair the color of frosted glass left loose and curled over a shoulder.

“Oh, this is my brother, Loptr.” Byleistr beamed. “Loptr, this is Sigyn.”

Loki bowed politely, trying to ignore the smirk on Uma's face.

“It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Sigyn smiled and Loki had to remember to breathe. Why was there fluttering in his stomach? What did Uma do?

Oh, she just said something. What did she say? Was he supposed to respond?

Loki nearly sighed in relief when Uma spoke up, but quickly changed his mind when he realized what she was saying.

“Hey, Uncle Byl, Afi wanted me to bring you to his office. He has a project he wants your help on.”

_ Please don't ask me to- _

“Oh, Loptr, would you keep Sigyn company until I'm done?” Byleistr looked to his friend, frowning. “Would that be alright? I don't want to just leave you alone.”

She shook her head before meeting Loki's eyes.

“It doesn't bother me if it's alright with you.”

Loki stumbled over his words a moment before settling on a shrug, fumbling with his notebook.

Byleistr eyed him strangely, but Uma rolled her eyes and pulled her uncle away by the elbow.

“Have fun.”

And there was that tone again.

Loki watched as his family left, frantically begging with his eyes for them to stay.

He turned back to see Sigyn smirking at him.

“So, are we going to just stand out here all day, or are we going to go inside?”

Loki jolted.

“Right, yes, of course.” He held out his arm, just the way he'd been taught. (Frigga hadn't raised him without manners)

Sigyn took it, her smirk softening into a small smile as they went inside.

“So.” Loki cleared his throat. “You've known Byleistr a long time, then?”

She smiled and nodded.

“Since we were children. My family moved away, across the sea, a few centuries ago so it's been harder to get back and forth.”

Loki nodded. He'd been told as much.

“You called him Shine?”

She laughed. He decided then and there it was one of his favorite sounds.

“Ah, yes, that's something I've called him since we were small.” She leaned in a little closer, as if she was sharing a secret. “He's always been such a ball of sunshine, you know.”

Loki lips turned up in a grin.

“Yes, I think he spent the entire morning telling stories about you and your adventures together.” He huffed a laugh. “I honestly thought he was going to start glowing.”

Sigyn laughed before looking around at their surroundings.

“You really know how to show a lady a good time.”

Loki blushed. He hadn't even realized where his feet were taking them.

“I'm sorry, it was a force of habit.”

Sigyn huffed a small laugh as she pulled him the rest of the way through the library door and over to a small couch.

“So,” she began, kicking off her shoes and pulling her feet underneath her. “Come here often?”

A laugh burst from Loki's chest, delight lighting up Sigyn's face.

“I do, actually, most every day.” He scanned the shelves, mentally cataloguing what he had and hadn't read yet. “I've gone through a good third of the shelves already, maybe even a little more.”

“Have you gotten to the history section yet?”

Loki leaned forward slightly in his seat.

“I actually started there. There's so  _ much _ to learn; how can anyone hope to understand it all in one lifetime?”

She shook her head.

“You can't. Your only hope is to just study as much as possible and learn to understand as much as you can and ask someone else to help you with what you don't.”

“I suppose.”

They settled into silence, Loki floundering for something to say that wasn't embarrassingly stupid. He turned his notebook around in his hands as he thought.

“Are you a writer?”

Her question threw him for a moment.

“I- Yes, sometimes.”

“What do you write?”

“Plays, mostly.”  _ Don't ask to read it, please. _

“What about?” Sigyn laid an arm over the back of the couch and set her chin on her fist.

His mind went completely blank.

“Mostly satire based off of reality, but just different enough that I won't get in trouble if someone recognizes themself.”

She raised an eyebrow.

Loki prepared to defend his work but was interrupted by soft music playing from somewhere in the room.

He frowned, but soon recognized the song. It was from Earth, one of those songs that played on the radio sometimes. This one played a lot around the beginning of February for some-  _ Oh. _

It finally clicked why Uma had been acting so strangely. She hadn't been playing a trick, she just knew who this was.

Loki blinked, panic overtaking his logical mind for a moment.

Sigyn looked over the back of the couch and smiled.

“Hello. You must be Asmund.”

Loki leaned over the back of his seat to find his son with a large, black box in his lap and the music ( _ a blatant love song _ ) coming softly from its speakers.

“Asmund.” He tried to make his tone stern yet kind, but was sure that his voice came out an octave or two too high. “Did your sister put you up to this?”

The boy just blinked, turning back to smile at Sigyn.

“How about you run along now and leave your father and I to talk?”

His grin grew a little wider before he disappeared completely, taking the boombox with him.

Loki mentally sighed, but stiffened again when he realized he'd have to explain what exactly his children were doing.

And what had Uma said when he hadn't been around earlier? Oh, this was bad.

Sigyn laughed when he looked up.

“He's adorable. Has a lot of friends, judging by the threads I can see.”

Loki frowned.

“Yes, he does, but how did you-?”

Sigyn's smile fell away, her eyes betraying confusion.

“Byleistr didn't tell you?” She sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face. “My seiðr is very different than most; I can't do tricks or heal anyone, not really.”

A sly glint shone in her eye as she studied Loki.

“I can, however, see things other people can't.”

Loki cleared his throat and shifted. He wasn't sure how he felt about something like that.

She patted his arm.

“Nothing bad, I assure you. I can see connections between people. You have a lot of them, some good and some bad.” She looped a finger through the air, following a line Loki couldn't see. “Friends have one color of ribbon, siblings, enemies, rivals.”

She sat back and folded her hands in her lap.

“They're all pretty easy to differentiate, but soulmates are especially obvious.” She grinned. “Almost as obvious as children with their parents.”

Loki froze. Was she implying…? And she knew.

“I am so sorry. I know this is strange.” He gestured to where Asmund had been. “It's actually a very interesting story-”

“Full of time travel and saving the world,” she finished. “Uma told me.”

Loki shut his mouth with a click. There were a lot of things Uma could've told her that were… not so good.

“Relax. You've done well.” She smiled. “Not many would have had any idea what to do in your situation, even if they had help.”

Loki shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Lenore was really the one who knew what she was doing.”

“I don't know, you seem clever.” She nudged him with her elbow. “And you don't have to worry about it anymore.”

He shot her a questioning look.

“Now we can both fumble for answers.”

  
  
  


Laufey was on his way to the throne room when he passed the library.

A burst of laughter came through the door, stopping him in his tracks.

_ Was that Loptr? _

He stepped closer to the door and listened. Two voices, one belonging to his youngest son and the other belonging to Sigyn, floated through. They sounded… happy.

Asmund walked by and took Laufey's hand, pulling him away.

“Don't much like me eavesdropping, hm?” he teased.

Asmund rolled his eyes.


End file.
